I originally set up this blog to showcase the old Dope Rider comic strips I occasionally did for High Times from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. With High Times' 40th anniversary issue in 2014, I restarted the strip and have been doing my best to get one done for each issue. A few months after they appear in the magazine, I will archive them here. Note: all images are copyrighted by Paul Kirchner.

If you'd like to purchase Dope Rider merchandise, visit my Dope Rider Store at CafePress.com and click on a design you like. Your patronage is most appreciated!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Dope Rider in "High Times" Part 3

"Taco Belle" ran in the June 1978 issue. The title refers to the taco-like appearance of the Hieronymus Bosch woman atop page two. This may be my favorite Dope Rider episode; I like the overall look of it. (Click on images for a larger version.)

The "Closers" page at the end of the issue had a short profile of me.

My wife and I still get a hoot out of the "ramshackle hog farm" reference. The part about me preparing for the collapse of civilization was true: we heated our apartment with a woodstove, I made bread with wheat I ground by hand, and the space under our loft bed was crammed with crates of freeze-dried survival food.

Dope Rider didn't appear again until January 1981. By that time Forçade was dead, having shot himself in November 1978 at age 33. I have met some sharply defined personalities in my life and he was definitely one of them. There is a fascinating profile of him by Albert Goldman in High Times Greatest Hits (1994) and plenty of information about him on the web, such as here and here.

Dope Rider's last appearance was in the May 1986 issue. I had been working on a story on and off for a few years between other jobs and I finally got around to finishing it. At this point, the magazine could no longer pay more than $50 per page and it had to print it in black and white. High Times had not turned out to be the next Playboy; it took a tremendous financial hit when laws were passed to ban the advertising of drug paraphernalia.

The last frame, where Dope Rider is on a billboard, is based on the famous billboard in Times Square that blew smoke rings.

I currently work mostly as an illustrator for advertising, doing storyboards and comps. I also take on illustration jobs and have written several books. I have three children.

At last! Had spent years trying to compile my Dope Rider comix lost. I asked hundreds of comic shops in my city (Barcelona) if someone had seen fit to publish a compilation book with all its fantastic surreal stories.I found some single issues but I lacked stories.Thank you very much Paul Kirchner.

Hey, thanks for the positive reinforcement! Some artists don't know how to handle praise but I eat it up with a fork and spoon, and hit the road and all go surfin' soon . . . sorry, am spacing on Beach Boys' lyrics lately.